Do bitter digestive drinks work?

Can a cheeky apéritif or bitter beverage before a meal really help to improve your digestion? Mim Beim explains why bitter is better.

(Q) My Italian grandmother insists on a bitter drink before her dinner and says it helps her digestion. What are your thoughts?

(A) James Green, an American herbalist, said, "The mistake of eliminating the bitter flavour from our daily experience is like eliminating one of the colours of the rainbow." Unfortunately, in Australia, bitter foods are thin on the ground. Grapefruit, chicory, radicchio, endives, cress, olives, hops and coffee are the only bitter foods that spring to mind.

In England, a salad made from bitter lettuce leaves was traditionally eaten before the meal, rather than with it as we do today. In the interest of harmony and health, Chinese cuisine often includes a bitter element such as bitter melon, which is said to relieve the body of internal heat. Bitter herbs also form the basis of European digestifs and aperitifs such as Campari and good old Angostura bitters.

Tastebuds are bundles of nerve endings, located all over the tongue. Bitter buds are found at the back of the tongue, sour to either side, sweet at the tip and salty in between. Bitter tastebuds connect to the vagus nerve, which stimulates the functioning of the digestive organs: stomach, pancreas, gall bladder and intestine. One of the main tenets of natural therapies is to improve digestion and stimulating the vagus nerve will do this.

Symptoms of a digestive system crying out for bitters include bloating, burping, flatulence and constipation. These symptoms in particular indicate low stomach-acid production. Other signs include peeling fingernails, dry lips, increased susceptibility to parasitic and fungal infections and a tendency to gastroenteritis. As we age, stomach-acid production drops and this inhibits absorption of nutrients such as protein, iron and vitamin B12.

The main bitter herbs include gentian, goldenseal, wormwood, St Mary's thistle and dandelion root. The idea is to taste the bitterness. The more bitter, the better.

A teaspoon of herbal bitters, often called Swedish bitters, in a wineglass of water before dinner trains your digestive system into healthier habits. They are available from health-food stores.

Bitters enhance your appetite, but don't cause overeating. People who are pregnant or have stomach ulcers should avoid them.

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